User reviews

An imaginary small town of Norman, Texas, ostensibly near San Antonio (where this film is shot), has a police force composed of, with but one exception, professional assassins from its chief down to its dispatcher, each on the payroll of a local racketeer who makes use of these paid killers to dispose of zealous law enforcement officials who are opposed to his operations. When the last remaining honourable member of the force, played by Glenn Corbett, is slain, his brother-in-law Rick Kelly (Dirk Benedict), a homicide detective from one of the (undetermined) Kansas City departments, attends the funeral to console his sister, after which he begins an investigation of his own that flies in the faces of common sense and continuity. The picture is produced in large part by San Antonio area residents who, therefore, fill some small roles and the pedestrian direction is attributed to "Darrell Davenport", who is actually the competent cinematographer Ken Lamkin, but it is the stale and grating scoring of Jeff Marsh and the poorly devised script by Wayne Wynne that are principally responsible for the work's banal quality. Lance LeGault, as the tainted police chief, is effective as usual, Corbett's final performance (he died shortly after its completion), as the last honest policeman in Norman is welcome, and Lise Cutter spices the proceedings with a delightful turn as a journalist and Rick's love interest; Benedict, however, is typically bland and, for some reason, the video package displays him intimately posing with substituted Tonie Perensky, who is cast as the moll of the crime boss, typical of this ragged production.

Shadow Force is the kind of movie that one rents only if they like the main star, which in this case, is Dirk Benedict (of Battlestar Galactica & A-Team). This straight-to-video film is definitely a low-budget flick, and is does have some pretty bad acting in it. Because of this, there are some pretty funny moments . If you decide to watch it, look out for any scene involving the Columbian drug lord guy, because this guy has got to be about the worst actor I've ever seen, and I have seen alot. It is interesting to note that Lance Legault, veteran of Magnum PI and other various 80's television shows, is in this movie. I just love his line to Dirk , calling him "Ricky boy". Look out for this also, it's pretty funny. There are some pretty interesting action sequences , that I wouldn't exactly refer to as being first rate. Now unless I am completly wrong on this, please note that Dirk Benedict's love interest in Shadow Force, played by Lise Cutter, is not the woman featured with him on the video box cover. Kind of strange, but OK. Benedict may not be the best actor in the world, but he is always worth watching, and this movie is no exception. It has a fairly interesting plot involving currupt cops in Texas. Unlike the beginning of the movie may suggest, there is actually no nudity . It is suprisingly clean for a movie of this sort. The production values are mediocre at best, and the editing is choppy. Remember, watch this knowing that it isn't a great movie, and try to just enjoy it, with a group of friends , if possible.